Banning Plastic Bags - Sustainability Student Starts Local Drive

April 11, 2018 By cmctestgenesis

A local ban on plastic bags is the mission of Janell Togno and her Sustainability Studies project. She's trying to move the Glenwood Springs City Council to adopt a ban as have Carbondale and Basalt.

Watch the CBS Denver/KCNC video (above).

Filed Under: News, Programs Tagged With: Home Page, Sustainability Studies

Sustainability Studies: Bringing gross national happiness home

January 5, 2018 By cmctestgenesis

People at a Bhutan conference

From left, Michael Philipp, a member of the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund and major supporter of the Bhutan for Life conservation initiative, CMC Aspen ESL professor Lorraine Miller, Dr. Mercedes Quesada-Embid, CMC Vail Valley sustainability studies professor, and Bhutan Minister of Agriculture and Forests Yeshey Dorji at Bhutan’s Royal Botanical Garden to honor Bhutan for Life’s launch during the GNH conference.

By Carrie Click

Imagine a country that’s governed based on the happiness of its people rather than measuring its success on its gross national product. Such a place exists in the Himalayas in southern Asia.

The Kingdom of Bhutan is east of Nepal and surrounded by India, Tibet and China. With 800,000 citizens, it’s just under 15,000 square miles – a bit smaller than Switzerland.

The Centre for Bhutan Studies & Gross National Happiness invited nearly 400 government leaders, academics, sociologists and scientists from 26 countries to attend the seventh international conference on gross national happiness, “GNH of Business.” in November. The interactive conference explored ways that businesses around the world currently achieve GNH, as well as ways to further promote the concept.

According to Investopedia.com, gross national happiness “attempts to measure the sum total not only of economic output, but also of net environmental impacts, the spiritual and cultural growth of citizens, mental and physical health and the strength of the corporate and political systems.”

Representatives from two Western Slope entities – the Aspen International Mountain Foundation and Colorado Mountain College – traveled over 7,500 miles to take part in the conference.

The Colorado delegation

Founded in 2001, the Aspen International Mountain Foundation evolved from Aspen community leaders working with the United Nations’ Environment Program, the City of Aspen, the Aspen Institute and Aspen Sister Cities, among others. The nonprofit corporation promotes sustainable development in the world’s mountain communities.

Jim True with Bhutan prime minister and Lorraine Miller

From left, Aspen City Attorney Jim True of the Aspen International Mountain Foundation, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and CMC Aspen professor Lorraine Miller at the Gross National Happiness in Business conference in Thimphu, Bhutan. Tobgay gave the inaugural address. Photo Mercedes Quesada-Embid

Karinjo Devore, president of the foundation, initially received an invitation for the November conference though was unable to attend because of a prior commitment. AIMF board member and City of Aspen attorney Jim True, and his wife Vicky, made the trip.

“The invitation came to us, and we invited CMC to join us,” said True.

Lorraine Miller, a Colorado Mountain College Aspen faculty member who teaches developmental education and English as a Second Language, had visited Bhutan in 2016 while on sabbatical through an arrangement with AIMF. She spent a month experiencing how a visitor to a foreign country might feel lacking any knowledge of either the language or alphabet. Bhutan’s national language is Dzongkha, and the Tibetan alphabet is used in written communication. Miller knew neither.

While there, Miller established valuable connections between the Bhutan Trust for Environmental Conservation and Colorado Mountain College, and is now working with college faculty and administrators on a possible exchange with Bhutanese forest and park rangers.

“We wanted to promote the exchange,” said True. “We think it’s good for our organization, for CMC and for the Bhutanese.”

And Dr. Mercedes Quesada-Embid, lead professor of sustainability studies at CMC Vail Valley in Edwards, was a natural choice to join the delegation.

‘The source of all happiness’

Both True and Quesada-Embid gave presentations, while Miller chaired a panel on business enterprise.

Photo of Buddhist statue

This massive Buddha overlooks Bhutan's capital city of Thimphu. Approximately 75 percent of Bhutanese practice Buddhism. The principles of gross national happiness are rooted in Buddhist philosophy.

True said the conference featured a lot of high-level academic discussion, and that Quesada-Embid’s presentation was one of his favorites. In her talk, titled “Sustainability and Happiness: Bringing an Authentic Ethic to the Business Model,” Quesada-Embid explained how Colorado Mountain College operates in a way that integrates gross national happiness into its culture. “How CMC operates, the programs it chooses to support, the community relationships it builds – all contribute to or model many GNH principles,” she said.

“I have faith that what we call ‘human nature’ is not the greedy, competitive consumer individual,” she told the audience in Bhutan, “but instead that negative concept is a manifestation of humans’ lack of nature. Our human nature is indeed full of altruisms, spiritualities, cooperations and loves. There is mindful power in these qualities.”

True based his talk on the Aspen City of Wellbeing, an organization working to create healthy cultural shifts. Since the conference’s focus was on gross national happiness and business, True told of the Aspen Skiing Company, which relies on a healthy mountain environment for its continued business sustainability.

“In translating GNH to the private sector, I explained the ski company’s reliance on nature and the outdoors,” True said.

On a hike to a prominent Bhutanese monastery called Tiger’s Nest on the day before the conference, True said he saw a wooden sign at the trailhead that read, in part, “Preserve our natural heritage. Nature is the source of all happiness.”

“I thought that was so serendipitous to what I was going to present at the conference,” said True. “One of the Bhutanese participants said that hit a chord with him when I talked about that during my presentation.”

Filed Under: News, Programs Tagged With: Home Page, Sustainability Studies

Fielder, Adrian, Ph.D.

November 6, 2017 By cmctestgenesis

Photo of Adrian Fielder

Adrian Fielder, Ph.D.

Assistant Dean of Instruction
970-947-8246 | afielder@coloradomtn.edu

Education

  • Ph.D. in Comparative Literacy/Cultural Studies, Northwestern University, 2002
  • Fulbright Fellow, Morocco, 1999-2000
  • Expert Certification, Global Environmental Education, Cornell University, 2016
  • National Certification in Community Organizing, Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation, 2015
  • Wildcrafting Certification, Roaring Foragers, 2015
  • M.A. in Francophone Postcolonial Studies, University of Utah, 1997
  • B.A. in Comparative Area Studies, Duke University, 1995

Filed Under: Faculty, Staff Tagged With: Spring Valley Staff, Sustainability Studies

Evans Receives AASHE Award

October 13, 2017 By cmctestgenesis

CMC’s 2017 collegewide full-time Faculty of the Year.

Tina Evans, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sustainability Studies at Colorado Mountain College Steamboat Springs, has received AASHE’s Campus Sustainability Research Award for outstanding achievements and progress toward sustainability.

Read Story

Filed Under: News, Programs Tagged With: Sustainability Studies

Green Ribbon Schools

October 13, 2017 By cmctestgenesis

logo - 2017 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Postsecondary Sustainability Awardee

Colorado Mountain College is one of only nine postsecondary institutions in the nation and the only institution in Colorado to receive the 2017 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Postsecondary Sustainability Award.

Read ENews Story

Filed Under: News, Programs Tagged With: Sustainability Studies

Hillmer-Pegram, Kevin, Ph.D.

April 27, 2017 By cmctestgenesis

Kevin Hillmer Pegram

Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, Ph.D.

Professor, Sustainability Studies
970-947-8167 | kchillmer-pegram@coloradomtn.edu


Location: Spring Valley

Education

  • Ph.D. in Resilience and Adaptation (Interdisciplinary Studies), University of Alaska Fairbanks
  • M.S. in Geography (focus on nature-society relations), Pennsylvania State University
  • B.A. in Religious Studies (Anthropology minor), Arizona State University

About

I was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona - hot, dry, and prickly. As a young person, I wondered, "What's the meaning of life?", so I got a B.A. in Religious Studies but never found out. I was sick of school, so I moved to the US Virgin Islands. There, while working in ecotourism, I became infatuated with humans' efforts to make our livings and enjoy our lives sustainably; that is, without destroying the environment and without destroying each other.

After a humbling car crash and years of living hand-to-mouth, I returned to school to pursue graduate studies in nature-society relations, specifically the human dimensions of climate change. I acquired an M.S. in Geography and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Resilience and Adaptation. I have worked on interdisciplinary projects funded by the National Science Foundation and by environmental NGOs, and have conducted community-based research in places such as the Caribbean, Tanzania, and arctic Alaska.

My approach to sustainability can be described as critical political economy of the environment, or political ecology. Fundamentally, I am interested in the nexus of environmental responsibility and social justice, as these two areas are inextricably linked. I work with quantitative and qualitative data, philosophy, maps, and art, and enjoy collaborations with students, community partners, and scholars from many fields. As a teacher, I am committed to making my courses rigorous, applied, and innovative.

I am ecstatic to be joining Colorado Mountain College as the CMC Spring Valley lead faculty member in Sustainability Studies in 2017. I view this position as the next step in my life-long investigation into the meaning of life, which I am now confident pertains to sustainable living! I look forward to developing meaningful relationships with my students, colleagues, and community; I look forward to planting roots.

Let's work together to make the world a better place. There is plenty to do.

Select Publications

  • Hillmer-Pegram, K. (2017) Within Changing Systems of Arctic Tourism, What should be made Resilient to What, and for Whom? In UNDERSTANDING TOURISM RESILIENCE: ADAPTING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE. Eds. Lew, A. and J. Cheer. Routledge Press: New York, NY.
  • Hillmer-Pegram, K. (2016) Integrating Indigenous Values with Capitalism through Tourism: Alaskan Experiences and Outstanding Issues. JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM. 4(8-9): 1194-1210.
  • Chapin III, S.F., M. Sommerkorn, M.D. Robards, and K. Hillmer-Pegram (2015) Ecosystem Stewardship: A Resilience Framework for Arctic Conservation. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (34): 207-217.
  • Hillmer-Pegram, K. (2014) A Synthesis of Existing, Planned and Proposed Infrastructure and Operations Supporting Oil and Gas Activities and Commercial Transportation in Arctic Alaska. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK. Online: https://sites.google.com/a/alaska.edu/north-by-2020/current-projects/oil
  • Hillmer-Pegram, K., P.D. Howe, H. Greenberg, and B. Yarnal (2012) A Geographic Approach to Facilitating Local Climate Governance: From Emissions Inventories to Mitigation Planning. APPLIED GEOGRAPHY 34:76-85.

Select Professional Affiliations

  • American Association of Geographers (since 2010)
  • Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (since 2015)
  • International Polar Tourism Research Network (since 2012)

Filed Under: Faculty Tagged With: Spring Valley Faculty, Sustainability Studies, Sustainability Studies Lead Faculty

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Site Feedback

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© 2023 / Colorado Mountain College
Administrative Office: 970-945-8691
802 Grand Avenue, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601